250 billion VND bus station completed and "covered in tarpaulins
Reporters' records show that Nam Vinh Bus Station - one of the highly anticipated projects of the Nghe An transport industry - has not yet been put into operation even though it has been completed since 2023. The project is invested by Nghe An Bus Station Joint Stock Company, planned as a type 1 bus station, located in Phuc Loi commune (adjacent area to the old Vinh city).
The project has a scale of about 100,000m2, a designed capacity of about 500 bus trips per day, serving about 15,000 passengers. The project was approved many years ago, expected to be completed from July 2011. However, after a long period of stagnation, construction was only started in 2020. Phase 1 is implemented on an area of 19,000m2 with a total investment of about 32 billion VND.
By March 2023, the main items such as the operating house, parking lot, passenger waiting room, and internal road system were basically completed, but after 2 years, they have not been put into operation. Not only this project, but many other bus stations operate ineffectively in Nghe An. Typically, the Central Bus Station, not far from Nam Vinh Bus Station - has a total investment of more than 100 billion VND.
This bus station is designed with a capacity of hundreds of vehicles, with a service capacity of 800 to 1,000 bus trips per day, accompanied by many auxiliary service items. However, after going into operation, the bus station quickly fell into a scene of being deserted, with a small number of vehicles entering and leaving.
Difficulties from passenger transport business
According to business feedback and actual research, one of the main reasons why new bus stations cannot attract vehicles is due to the competition of other modes of transport such as railways and aviation.
Regarding Nam Vinh Bus Station, Mr. Tran Anh Tuan - Head of Transport Management Department, Nghe An Department of Construction - said that previously the project encountered problems with connection procedures to National Highway 1 Vinh bypass, so it could not be put into operation. Up to now, the connection has been completed.
However, to be eligible for operation, the investor needs to continue to repair and complete the degraded items, and then functional agencies will proceed with acceptance. The fact that many bus stations are invested with hundreds of billions of VND but operate ineffectively or cannot be exploited has caused great waste of land, financial resources and infrastructure development opportunities.
Experts believe that, to overcome this situation, Nghe An needs to complete connectivity infrastructure, rationally classify vehicles and have initial support policies to attract businesses and car companies to bring vehicles to new stations.
